Cal Answers Dashboard Reports Student All Access Cohort Analysis (Graduation/Retention) Office of Planning & Analysis Associate Vice Chancellor Chief Financial Officer University of California, Berkeley June 2012
Table of Contents Table of Contents... 1 Overview... 2 Accessing Dashboard Reports... 2 Understanding Undergraduate Cohort Graduation/Retention Data... 2 UG Retention Dashboard Page... 3 Understanding the Data... 3 Using the Report... 4 Filters... 4 Data Views... 4 Sorting and Drag/Drop... 5 Export Link... 5 UG Grad Rates Dashboard Page... 5 Understanding the Data... 5 Using the Report... 6 Filters... 6 Data Views... 7 Sorting and Drag/Drop... 7 Export Link... 7 To report any problems with the Cal Answers Portal, Reports, or Dashboards: Send an e-mail to calanswers-help@berkeley.edu Or Call the Help Desk at 642-8500, Monday Friday, 8:00am 5:00pm June 2012 Page 1
Overview Accessing Dashboard Reports The Cal Answers reporting environment, using Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) software, provides two different interfaces to the UC Berkeley Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). One of these interfaces, called Analysis, is an ad hoc query tool. The other interface, which is discussed in this document, is called Dashboards, and provides interactive reports to campus users. This document specifically covers the Student All Access Cohort Analysis dashboard pages dealing with cohort analyses, a set of standard reports that are available to all Cal Answers users. You can access these reports from the Dashboards dropdown list that appears at the top right of any OBIEE screen, as shown in the screenshot to the right. Simply drop down the list, and expand the node named Student All Access to see the dashboards available within that grouping. In this case, you ll choose the blue link. When you click the link, you will then see all of the available reports, each on a separate tab, that currently exist within this dashboard. For example: You then simply click on a tab in order to see a given dashboard page and the report that it contains. The first tab, Overview, contains brief descriptions of each report. Understanding Undergraduate Cohort Graduation/Retention Data For certain kinds of analyses, typically involving undergraduate retention and graduation rates, it s necessary to look at cohorts of entering students. By convention, these cohorts consist of undergraduates entering in a fall semester, as either new freshmen directly from high school or as advanced standing (transfer) students. We calculate graduation numbers as either year or half-year values. For example, a student entering in Fall 2002 becomes part of that entry cohort. We consider the fall semester to be the first 0.5 year, with the spring and immediately following summer terms as the second 0.5 year. So, if this student received a degree at the end of the Fall 2005 semester, the years-to-graduation number would be 3.5 years. If we awarded the degree in Spring or Summer 2006, the years-to-graduation number would be 4 years. We usually calculate retention only by full years, so these numbers refer to a fall-to-next-fall retention (e.g., the student above enters in Fall 2002 and later registers in Fall 2003). The rest of this document covers each of the undergraduate cohort dashboard reports in more detail. June 2012 Page 2
UG Retention Dashboard Page The UG Retention dashboard tab defaults to showing a table of one-year retention rates for new freshmen, for the most recent 12 Fall entry cohorts: Understanding the Data For each of the last 12 entering undergraduate cohorts (you can choose either new freshmen or transfer students, as well as Fall or Spring entrants), this table by default shows the percentage of students who were or were not retained for one calendar year. (See the Understanding Undergraduate Cohort Graduation/Retention Data section above for more information about this data.) We consider a student to be retained for one (for example) year if they graduate prior to the end of that year, or if they register in the term that s one calendar year following entry. So, a student who entered in Fall 2004 and then graduated in Spring 2005 would meet the requirements for one-year retention. The same would hold true for a student who entered in Fall 2004 and also registered in Fall 2005. Note that we calculate retention on a 12-month basis. So, it s possible for a student not to be retained for the first year, but to be retained for the second (e.g., the student entered in Fall 2004, did not register in Fall 2005, but did register in Fall 2006). June 2012 Page 3
Using the Report Sorting & Drag/Drop Filters Data Views Export Link By default, this report will show new freshmen one-year retention percentages for the most recent 12 Fall entry cohorts. As always, however, you can customize the data that you see. Filters At the top of each dashboard page, just below the title, you ll see one or more filters that you can apply to the data. In this case, you can choose: Multiple entry cohorts, going back to Fall 1983. In order to select a different set of terms than the default, simply click on the down-arrow button, and then choose the values you want from the list. (If you need more flexibility, choose the Search option that appears at the bottom of the list.) Once you ve made your selections, click Apply to set your new filters. A cohort entry type (new freshmen or transfers/advanced standing). Gender. California residency. (If you want to limit data to domestic nonresident students, choose "Nonresident" for the Residency filter, and all values except for "International" in the 4-Value Ethnicity filter.) Ethnicity, at the 4-value, 9-value, and 16-value levels. After making selections, remember to click the Apply button to apply your new filter values. The Reset button will reset the filters to their last applied values. Data Views The Select Data View dropdown lets you choose how you want to see the data. In this case, you have 12 options: 1 Year Headcount % Table This table shows headcounts as percentages within each entry cohort. 2 6 Year Headcount % Table These views show two through six year retention percentages. 1 Year Headcount Table This table shows headcounts as values within each entry cohort. 2 6 Year Headcount Table These views show two through six year retention values. June 2012 Page 4
Sorting and Drag/Drop The small up and down arrowheads that appear in some cells allow you to sort table rows or columns by the values in those cells. When you move your mouse just above a column, you ll see a drag/drop bar that you can then use to change the order of columns. For instance, you could swap row and column values in this table. Export Link Finally, just below the table is an Export link that lets you download data in a variety of formats. UG Grad Rates Dashboard Page The UG Grad Rates dashboard tab defaults to showing a table and graph of the new freshmen yearsto-graduation percentages for the most recent 12 Fall entry cohorts: Understanding the Data For each of the last 12 entering undergraduate cohorts (you can choose either new freshmen or advanced standing students, as well as Fall or Spring entrants), this table shows the percentage of students from each cohort who graduated in 2 years or fewer, 2.5 or 3 years, 3.5 or 4 years, 4.5 or 5 years, 5.5 or 6 years, more than 6 years, or who have not yet graduated. (See the Understanding Undergraduate Cohort Graduation/Retention Data section above for more information about this data.) June 2012 Page 5
Note that these values are not cumulative. A student gets counted only one time, so that the sum of each column equals the Grand Total value. As explained below, however, you can choose to see this data as a running sum if you wish. And in addition to percentages, you can also see the data as absolute values. Using the Report Sorting & Drag/Drop Filters Data Views Export Link By default, this report will show new freshmen years-to-graduation percentages for the most recent 12 Fall entry cohorts. As always, however, you can customize the data that you see. Filters At the top of each dashboard page, just below the title, you ll see one or more filters that you can apply to the data. In this case, you can choose: Multiple entry cohorts, going back to Fall 1983. In order to select a different set of terms than the default, simply click on the down-arrow button, and then choose the values you want from the list. (If you need more flexibility, choose the Search option that appears at the bottom of the list.) Once you ve made your selections, click Apply to set your new filters. A cohort entry type (new freshmen or transfers/advanced standing). Gender. California residency. (If you want to limit data to domestic nonresident students, choose "Nonresident" for the Residency filter, and all values except for "International" in the 4-Value Ethnicity filter.) Ethnicity, at the 4-value, 9-value, and 16-value levels. June 2012 Page 6
After making selections, remember to click the Apply button to apply your new filter values. The Reset button will reset the filters to their last applied values. Data Views The Select Data View dropdown lets you choose how you want to see the data. In this case, you have four options: Headcount % Table This table shows headcounts as percentages within each entry cohort. Headcount Table This shows a table of values compiled as headcounts. Running Sum Headcount % Table This table shows headcounts as percentages within each entry cohort, as a running sum of all rows in the table. Running Sum Headcount Table This shows a table of values compiled as headcounts, as a running sum of all rows in the table. Sorting and Drag/Drop The small up and down arrowheads that appear in some cells allow you to sort table rows or columns by the values in those cells. When you move your mouse just above a column, you ll see a drag/drop bar that you can then use to change the order of columns. For instance, you could swap row and column values in this table. Export Link Finally, just below the table is an Export link that lets you download data in a variety of formats. June 2012 Page 7